A Human Can
by anxious.soul
Summary: 5 times the Avengers individually caught Tony doing something very human and made them realise he wasn't a heartless robot. Plus the one time they were all together and realised he really was just a human. Maybe more so than the others.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers **

**Warnings/Tags: References -'Driven to Tears' specifically the version where RDJ sings with Sting (I'd put the link in but this site doesn't like it), and 'Marley & Me' the film that absolutely destroys me, 5+1 Things kinda.**

**Prompt given to me by Pinxku on AO3: '"5 times the others discovered something new, unexpected and so human of Tony? Like he likes to read, he mourns his parents on their university and all that?" Of course, there can be a +1 be creative!'**

**Cross-posted on my AO3 with a collage.**

* * *

**…Be A Booklover and a Techie.**

Bruce wandered around the communal floor in search of Tony, who was doing a good job at keeping himself hidden. According to JARVIS, the genius was somewhere on the floor, but where remained to be seen. The scientist almost gave up as it became clear that Tony was nowhere to be found and that JARVIS was blatantly avoiding telling the man his creator's location, when he walked past a door he had never noticed. It was hidden behind the leaves of a tall houseplant that stood next to it. Looking carefully, Bruce could see light peaking out from beneath. Tentatively, the man opened the door and was both bewildered and in awe of what lay before him.

**—LINE BREAK—**

He'd been having a lazy sort of day, Tony that is, and with no work to do, he decided to head to his favourite place in the Tower. It wasn't hidden with the intent on it being a secret, per se, but the other Avengers didn't know about the room. If they did, no one had mentioned it.

He walked inside with a faint smile. It was a library. Somewhat small, yet somehow large. It was cosy too. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with books. On the back wall, there was an electric fireplace (he couldn't have a real one -despite wanting to- due to the building) with a wooden coffee table in front of it. A dark leather three-seater sofa stood in front of the table with leather armchairs flanking it on either side. The seating options had cushions and woolly blankets on, making it a rather comfortable looking space.

Taking a seat on the armchair to the right, Tony turned the fire on and snuggled into his blanket (it was winter after all and the library tended to get a bit chilly, the blankets and fire weren't just there to be aesthetically pleasing) as he picked up a Sherlock Holmes book and opened it, removing his bookmark as he did so.

**—LINE BREAK—**

Stepping inside, Bruce's eyes fell on the many shelves filled to the brim with books. Old and new; vintage and classic; broken and read millions of times. He was so lost in his amazement that the man didn't even notice Tony, who to be fair, didn't notice the wandering scientist either as the genius was too lost in the world of a Detective and his Doctor.

When Bruce finally did notice Tony, he had to admit he never quite thought he'd see the eccentric man sitting down and reading calmly. He watched as Tony's lips were parted slightly, sometimes he'd even whisper the words he was reading, other times it was merely out of anticipation, excitement and possible surprise. There was something soothing and somewhat relaxing watching Tony be completely and utterly involved with the book.

The scientist quietly left the room, he felt that he was interrupting something that most took for granted. This was Tony's 'chill' time and who was Bruce to disrupt it? With a private smile, he made his way back to the lab. He'd ask Tony for help later.

"How incredibly human," Bruce whispered to himself as he reflected on the man's actions.

**—LINE BREAK—**

**…Have Nightmares And Need Comforting**

He shot up with a scream tearing from his lips. Panting heavily, Tony looked down at his duvet covered lap, tears dripped down onto it. Faintly, he could hear JARVIS talking before he stumbled to his feet. Tony made his way into the bathroom, he sat in front of the toilet unsure if he'd be emptying his stomach. Several minutes passed and he stood, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Coffee coloured eyes were wide with dying fear, they were red from crying and his cheeks were littered with tear stains. Grabbing the closest facecloth, he gently refreshed his face before giving his reflection one last glance and wandering out.

Stepping out of the elevator and onto the communal floor, he headed straight for the kitchen and hastily made himself a hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream -exactly like Mr Jarvis, his butler used to.

Mentally -or perhaps verbally, truth be told Tony wasn't entirely sure- he kept repeating the same mantra of words. '_I'm okay. I'm alive. No wormholes, explosions, crazy Godfathers or caves here. No siree. Breathe in. Breathe out.'_

With a sip of his hot chocolate, Tony made his way to the couch when a loud crunch startled him. Sitting on what was known as the 'Two-Large-Blond's-Couch-Because-We-Normal-Sized-Humans-Don't-Enjoy-Being-Squished-Crushed-Or-Jostled-Whilst-Watching-TV' as Clint deemed it (and it was true, far too many times one of the more average sized Avengers have ended up being thrown _off _of the sofa due to Thor bouncing or exclaiming giddily, or from either of him or Steve getting jump-scared. Thus to say it got annoying after the first bruised everything and then it had to be put to a stop when Tony managed to get a broken arm. The genius was not impressed), was Thor. He was nibbling on a box of pop-tarts…or rather given the pile of empty boxes, he was attacking them.

"Are you alright, Anthony?" Thor asked when Tony slumped down beside him, leaning his head on the blond's shoulder,

"I'm fine."

"If that was the case, my friend, then I doubt you'd be awake with a hot chocolate."

"Just a bout of nightmares, Thor. No big deal." Tony said whilst thinking, '_I'm okay. I'm alive. No wormholes, explosions, crazy Godfathers or caves here. No siree. Breathe in. Breathe out.'_

"My friend. You are trembling and your voice is hitching. You are clearly more affected than you'd like to admit." He placed an arm around the shaking shoulders and the trembles increased. That was all it took for Tony to let go of his hold on his emotions.

He cried until he was too exhausted to keep his eyes open and fell into a deep sleep. Thor pushed him gently so that he was laying straight with his head on Thor's lap. The god ran a hand through his hair whilst looking down at him. At his tear-stained cheeks and innocent looking face.

"You are the most human Midgardian I have ever met, Anthony." He murmured before he too fell asleep.

**—LINE BREAK—**

**…Mourn The Dead Despite The Decades That Have Passed**

Steve had been returning to the Tower after his morning jog around the park. Sure it wasn't the best running weather, but Steve tended to enjoy running in the rain. As he jogged gently back, he spied Tony walking out of the building and walking away from him. Curious, the blond followed after. He took in the very unTony-like suit that had absolutely none of the man's infamous flare. It was simple and black.

As he followed Tony into a gloomy looking cemetery, it dawned on Steve what the date was. It was the 16th of December. Otherwise known as the day Howard and Maria Stark died.

Like a creep, Steve lurked behind a tall angel statue and watched as Tony crouched down, placing a couple of flowers on his parents shared grave. HIs enhanced sense of hearing allowed him to listen in.

"Hey, mum. Hey, dad. It's been a while. I…you'd think that after what? Twenty years of coming here I'd know what to say. Nothing's really happened in my life recently. The same old villains trying to do the same old things. I had a broken arm a few months ago. Nothing quite heroic on how I got it but it was incredibly annoying." He continued to murmur about his tech and various creations that Steve understood nothing about.

One thing he did understand was that Tony was shedding tears as he spoke.

A second thing he understood? Tony was human. More so than he and the others. Yet the world never pictured or cared about that fact. They just saw a robotic and heartless man.

"Tony." He whispered as he began to leave. "You are incredibly human. Don't ever let that go."

**—LINE BREAK—**

**…Be Generous and Helpful**

Who'd have thought that every other Thursday, Natasha and Tony went out and spent a day together? No one. So it was an unbelievable surprise to see the two heading out early one Thursday and then coming back later that evening with Happy carrying a bunch of bags for them. It was their little 'tradition' and they'd been doing it since after the Palladium poisoning and Vanko fiasco. They'd reintroduced themselves and gotten to know one another. In the end, they both came to see each other as siblings -Natasha even became immensely protective of Tony, who was the same just not as bad as she could protect herself and to Natasha, Tony was an innocent little kitten…

One Thursday, the two headed to their favourite shopping mall. The two were acting like teenagers as they enjoyed throwing clothes at one another and forcing each other to try them on. Basically, they had their own 'fashion show/walk'.

Natasha had been getting dressed again with the intention of purchasing the dress she'd just tried on. Of course, Tony used that opportunity to go and pay for said dress. He loitered near the exit after paying and hastily left the store as something caught his eye.

**—LINE BREAK—**

"Tony. I swear to Thor, if you've bought me that dress, I will withhold cuddles for a _week_." Natasha snarled as she left the changing rooms and lost sight of Tony. The man at the till told her he'd paid and rushed off. Stalking out of the shop, she looked around in an attempt to spot her favourite moronic genius. She saw a man crouching on the ground in front of a little girl with strawberry blonde hair up in pigtails. She smiled gently before continuing to look around for Tony. Her eyes fell back on the pair. She'd recognise that ass anywhere. She wandered silently over to the two.

**—LINE BREAK—**

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Tony murmured crouching down to the child's level. He'd rushed out because he'd seen an adorable little girl crying and looking lost.

"I lost my mummy and daddy." She whispered,

"I see. I can help you find your parents if you want. I know you shouldn't go off with strangers, but I'll take you to the customer service bit." He said with a gentle smile, before holding his hand out, "I'm Tony Stark."

"Iron Man!" She squealed and he nodded.

"As the ice cream stand is right next to us, do you want one to cheer you up?"

"Yes please, Mister Iron Man." He chuckled and bought one for her and himself.

"Now. How about I lift you onto my shoulders and see if you spot your mummy or daddy?" Hoisting the little girl up they remained oblivious to the redheaded woman watching them with a smile.

Eventually, the girl's parents came rushing over in a panic.

"Mummy! Daddy! Iron Man rescued me like you said he always would if I was in trouble!" She squealed rushing off to meet her parent's open arms.

"Thank you so much, Mr Stark!" The parents cried shaking his hand and the man just blushed.

"It's alright, I'm just happy we found you."

**—LINE BREAK—**

"That was very sweet of you, котенок."

"Don't think I didn't notice you watching, little missy."

"Never." She grinned and looped her arm through his, "And don't think you're off the hook for buying my dress when I said I would."

"Never." He grinned in response.

"You'd make a good father, Tony."

"Pfft. I'd screw them up so much." Natasha knew better than to argue despite the fact that the so-called genius was so incredibly wrong it was almost funny.

Later that evening when Natasha was in her bedroom putting her new purchases away she felt herself looking back on what happened.

"He is far more human than he gives himself credit for." She said with a shake of her head.

**—LINE BREAK—**

**…Randomly Break Into Song and Start Dancing**

Clint was immersed in a violent, bloody and gory video game when he was startled out of his intense murdering ways by surprisingly good singing. Removing his headphones and pausing the game, the sandy-blond wandered quietly towards the sound.

In the communal kitchen, Tony was sliding around on his socks dancing as his coffee was made. He was holding a wooden spoon and using it as a microphone. Discreetly, Clint, being the arsehole that everyone loves to hate, pulled his phone out and began to record the genius.

"_Protest is futile. Nothing seems to get through. What's to become of our world? Who knows what to do?" _He sang and Clint was slightly awed by how the man was making the Sting song _his. "Driven to tears!" _As he sang the words and repeated them a few times, Tony whirled around on his socks being dramatic and flashy. He finished with a twirl, _"Driven to tears!"_

Once he was finished, Tony grabbed his coffee and walked away as though nothing had happened. Clint was left behind with his phone recording an empty space, wide eyes and his mouth agape.

"Holy shit can he sing." He finally muttered once he pulled himself out of his shocked state, "And that has to be the most human-y thing I've ever seen." Shaking his head, Clint wandered back to his video games. He had some things to kill.

**—LINE BREAK—**

**…Cry At Movies.**

"_Thor _must we watch _this?" _Tony exclaimed drawling out the god's name.

"Of course, Anthony. Why do you not wish to watch it? It seems like a very lovely movie."

"Yeah, Tony. Are you that heartless that you can't watch a simple dog movie?" Steve snapped and Clint sent Tony a knowing look as he knew exactly what the film was like having watched it far too many times.

"No. It's just…fine! Put it on!" He shouted throwing his arms up and collapsing into his seat next to the child-like blond god. Tony snuggled into Thor's chest in an attempt to get comfortable and annoy the blond, who made it nearly impossible to actually annoy.

"This movie is hilarious!" Thor bellowed as everyone chuckled at the labrador misbehaving.

"That's Marley." Tony murmured with a grin forgetting about the ending and allowing himself to enjoy the movie.

"Tony…are you crying?" Thor asked with a frown,

"This is why I don't like to watch this movie," Tony whispered as the labrador was found and taken to the vets. "This is why I don't watch this film. This is why I don't _trust _movies. They make you grow attached and love a character and then the fuckers kill the character off."

"It's a dog," Natasha stated,

"How could you say that?" Both Clint and Tony exclaimed in unison, the pair were both crying,

"You're all heartless. Heartless I say! How can you _not _be crying?" Tony growled

"It's a movie!" Natasha replied exasperated, "Come on, I mean look at Steve and Thor!" They all turned to the two large blond men.

"You're heartless Natasha! They're crying too!"

"I give up." Yet as the dog passed away, even she shed a tear. Though it was nothing compared to Tony's rather loud sniffles as he mourned the dog.

"All in favour of never watching 'Marley & Me' again say aye." Clint said and hands shot up with numerous sniffles of an 'aye'.

Tony stumbled away with tear-streaked cheeks and a stuffy nose, he claimed that he was off to do some work on his newest suit, but everyone knew he was really going to his room. Crying tended to take a lot out of a person, especially if said person hadn't slept for more than three days.

"Wow. He really is human." Clint murmured,

"Yeah. More so than us." Natasha responded,

"Did I ever tell you about the library? And how Tony goes in to read? He's completely involved with the books." Bruce stated feeling the need to do so.

"He wandered into here the other day _singing_. Like as you would in the shower or when you're home alone or bored. He just entered the room singing without a care." Clint added,

"I might've followed him to his parents' grave and accidentally listened in. He was very vulnerable and open."

"When we went shopping he rushed off to help a child find her parents." Natasha added, "After he bought my dress despite what me telling him not to."

"Anthony has nightmares like I believe we all do, but he comes into the living area and makes himself a delightful hot chocolate and as I'm usually in here around the same time having a small midnight snack, we end up cuddling. As Steve said, he is incredibly vulnerable and almost innocent when he sleeps." Thor murmured ignoring Clint's squawk of disdain at his 'small' midnight snack comment as it was anything but.

"Right." Clint stated interrupting the silence that had fallen on them, "I have to go cleanse my soul from watching that painful movie via adorable dog videos. See ya." The others slowly got up to do the same -not the videos, just to leave and get ready for bed…at least that's what they all said to each other.

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** So that whole Marley & Me bit is more or less how I end up when I watch that film -it just breaks my heart especially as I am an owner of six dogs.**

** Here's my tumblr if you're interested, it also has the story collages: anxious- - -soul (no spaces between the dashes but sucks and wouldn't allow the dashes without spaces)**

**Anyway,**  
**Thank you for reading,**  
**Hope you enjoyed this,**  
**Please review,**  
**No hate -don't like, don't read**

**Bye~**


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